Dorton Arena Aerials

Another early morning in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. This time, we’re shooting aerials at the Dorton Arena with UNC-TV and Virtual Image.

The goal was to fly both outside and inside the arena. Whenever we get to fly indoors, our true piloting skills must be put to the test. Number one rule to remember when flying indoors… lower your gains. Inside joke for your pilots.

The thing that was really amazing about the Dorton Arena was the architecture. It’s pretty rare to see a structure designed with so many steel cables. Simple stunning to see really.

After flying for a bit around the arena, two of the engineers needed to walk on the roof for an inspection demonstration. Tracking the talent up the sides of the arena with downtown Winston-Salem in the distance, made for some really nice parallaxing shots. Those of you who are unclear as to the term “parallax,” this means when objects in the foreground move in the opposite direction as the objects in the background. When using a longer focal length lens, this effect becomes more exaggerated but yet more cinematic.

Once the outside was finished, we moved on inside the arena to shoot the interiors. I will admit, with the hundreds of suspended steel cable supporting the roof near the walls, the goal was to stay towards the middle of the arena. Again, with all of the chairs and seats through out the entire arena, we were able to capture plenty of parallax shots.

We were able to wrap up the day with a few more exterior shots right before the afternoon thunderstorms rolled in.